March 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. companies may experience “a
hiring panic” in the next few months as they struggle to fill
job openings, according to Edward Yardeni, president of Yardeni
Research Inc.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows why by comparing the four-week
average of initial claims for unemployment benefits with the
percentage of respondents in the Conference Board’s consumer-confidence surveys that say jobs are hard to get.

Jobless claims are a leading indicator for the ease of
finding work, Yardeni wrote in a blog posting two days ago that
featured a similar chart. The four-week average of applications
fell 5,500 last week to 354,000, the lowest level since March
2008, according to the Labor Department.

Claims have tumbled by about 300,000 since peaking three
years ago. The hard-to-get reading swung between 42 percent and
49 percent throughout the period until last month, when it fell
to 38.7 percent.

“More companies are having trouble finding the employees
they need,” Yardeni wrote, citing feedback from clients of his
New York-based investment-advisory firm that talk to companies
regularly. The Conference Board’s gauge may fall into the 20s
once hiring accelerates, the posting said.

The index is signaling that the unemployment rate may drop
below 8 percent soon, according to Yardeni. Last month’s rate
was 8.3 percent, unchanged from January, according to the
average estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.